“Mom!” My daughter’s sharp voice brought me to attention. “That was the third time I called you,” she said, clearly exasperated.

“Sorry, sweetie. I was concentrating on my work. I didn’t hear you.”

She sighed. “You always do that…”

My daughter was right. When had I started tuning her out? When she was a baby, I could hear her whimper from three rooms away and I’d be to her crib in a flash. As a toddler, she would call out for me and I went running. But as she got older, it became easier to get distracted. Maybe it was because I knew she was old enough to basically take care of herself. Maybe it was because I’d heard her call ”Mom!” for absolutely no reason so many times over the past thirteen years and my brain had learned to disconnect somehow. Maybe it was really because I was concentrating on work and simply didn’t hear her.

I can try to justify it all I want, but there is no excuse for tuning out my daughter’s voice when she needs me.

Psalm 91:15 promises that God always hears my call. He never tunes me out or is too focused on something else to notice I’m talking to Him. He’s right there, waiting…listening…expecting. And when I say his name, I am so glad it doesn’t take three tries. I say it once and there He is, ready to respond to my call.

“When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.” – Psalm 91:15 (NLT)